


The Time Alec Suddenly Became A Dad

by heartsdesire456



Series: Max Two 'Verse [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Adoption, Alternate Canon, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Magical Accidents, Only he's not actually lightwood-bane, Parenthood, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 19:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7234768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alec finds an abandoned warlock baby on the steps of the institute and they can't find anywhere he may have come from, Alec decides to keep him and raise him as his son. When his son's magical powers begin to manifest early in life, the accidents that happen around him quickly become dangerous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time Alec Suddenly Became A Dad

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [The Time Alec Suddenly Became A Dad (Traduccion)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14502750) by [yuki_yuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_yuki/pseuds/yuki_yuki)



> Just a little something I threw together today. Basically this has the canon lore, but without any of the Valentine stuff which I realize means no Clary (SORRY!) but I just wanted an alternative to how Alec and Magnus meet and an alternative to how Alec - and later Magnus - end up daddies of their little blue warlock baby.

To say Alec was exhausted would be the biggest understatement ever. He, Izzy, and Jace had been breaking up a vampire fight – because Alec didn’t want the Clave to find out and hurt anybody just because two clans were having issues – when a demon attacked them all. The vampires, understandably, were all pretty terrified by the sudden appearance of a vicious, oozing demon, but one of them had gotten killed by the demon before Jace and Izzy could kill the Demon. Alec tried to help the vampire who had been attacked, but even the undead couldn’t survive being nearly decapitated. Alec barely had time to put a hand over the vampire’s ripped out throat before he crumbled to dust.

After having to settle an argument that Alec did not, in fact, actually stake the vampire while he was on the ground, but he died of his injuries, they high-tailed it to get away before the vampires turned on them and everybody regretted it. 

All in all it had been a very long night, and Alec wasn’t the only one that just wanted to go to sleep. Alec could only assume that was the reason neither Jace nor Izzy noticed the pile of rags to the left of the stairs leading up to the institute doors. He almost didn’t bother stopping, figured it was just something that had blown in off the streets, but for whatever reason, he decided to walk over and look. He knelt down and grabbed the edge of the dirty, grungy towel, only when he tugged at it, it was clear there was something of some solidness holding the towel down. He became more alert, instantly worried it could be something dangerous, but the moment his hand went to his stele, there was a tiny whimper and the bundle of rags moved. 

Startled, Alec knew that sound, so he quickly pulled the towel open and gasped as he revealed a baby. A _blue_ baby. “Guys!” He looked back, only Jace and Izzy had gone inside already. He looked back down and the baby squirmed some, its little eyes opening. It’s unhappy sounds grew and it started to cry, probably from the chill. Alec quickly wrapped the rags back around it and picked it up. He had held Max as a baby, so he could remember how to carry it. He tucked the baby against his chest and rushed up the stairs, suddenly far more awake than he had been.

Alec rushed into the Institute and went straight to find someone. 

~

Alec still hadn’t slept, even as morning broke. He had ordered a message be sent to his parents in Idris and he’d had someone look the baby over to be sure it wasn’t injured, and after that, he sent Izzy and Jace to bed and returned to the infirmary. Lydia was starting an investigation into finding out where the baby came from, but it was obvious the baby was a warlock, and that its mother had left it there, because wrapped up inside the blanket with the poor little baby was a note with only four words on it.

_Who could love it?_

Since they didn’t have anywhere to put a baby, which they determined to be a boy, they had stacked some pillows along the sides of a cot so the baby couldn’t roll off, and left it in the infirmary. Alec pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat, watching the baby sleep, until he, too, dozed off, head resting on one of the pillows keeping the baby safe.

When he woke up, however, it was to the feeling of something tugging his hair. He lifted his head and saw the baby lying against one of the pillows on his belly grasping at Alec’s hair. When Alec lifted his head and looked at him, the baby smiled and squealed, grabbing for his nose instead. Alec laughed in surprise and pulled away, and the baby frowned. He babbled and reached towards Alec again, grasping at the air. Alec looked at the baby’s dark blue skin, the little fuzz of even darker blue hair on his head, and his big, light blue eyes, and couldn’t help but reach out his hand to stroke his hair. The baby turned his head and tried to put his mouth on Alec’s fingers and Alec frowned. 

“Did anybody get you something to eat?” he asked, knowing the baby couldn’t respond. He carefully reached out, grabbing the baby under its little arms. He clearly didn’t need his head supported if he was able to scoot around and lift up on his arms and all of that. He held him against his side, one arm around his teeny body, and stood up, going to find the nurse that had brought him in there. 

When he finally found her, the baby was babbling as if he was telling Alec a story, looking right at him the whole time. Alec looked up. “Trisha, did we get him anything to eat? He’s trying to eat my fingers,” he said, tugging his thumb out of the baby’s hand as he guided it towards his mouth. “No no,” he said softly. “Don’t wanna eat that. That’s icky,” he said, bouncing the baby some.

She eyed the baby with a look that shocked Alec to the core: disgust. She scrunched her nose some as she looked at him, away from the baby. “We don’t know what to feed it.”

Alec frowned. “Uh, it’s a baby? He needs a bottle and formula.”

“It’s a warlock,” she sneered. “It could drink goat’s blood for all we know.”

Alec shifted the baby to hold him against his chest, so that he was more securely in Alec’s arms. “Warlocks are babies born to Mundane mothers, it stands to reason they drink the same baby formula babies do if they don’t have a mother to nurse them,” he said warningly. “Has nobody gone out to get him a bottle?” 

Trisha looked unhappy with his questions but before she could answer the doors opened and Alec turned, only to blink when he saw his mother and father coming through with Max behind them. He turned back to Trisha. “If I was asleep that long, that means nobody has fed this baby in _hours_? Who knows how long he was out there!” he snapped at her. “Go get food for him _now_ ,” he demanded, pulling the poor baby into a hug as soon as he turned around. “I’m so sorry, you poor thing,” he said, rubbing a hand over the baby’s tiny head. “You must be starving.”

“Alec, what on earth are you doing holding that- that thing?” Maryse demanded once she got to him.

Alec gave her a shocked look. “Mom! He’s a baby!”

“It’s a Downworlder,” she said. “You don’t know what it might have. It could be venomous for all we know, and look at it! It’s trying to bite your finger!”

Alec rolled his eyes, pulling his hand free from the baby’s hold. “He’s hungry. I’m pretty sure we would know if Warlock babies were venomous.”

“Are we sure it’s a warlock?” she asked and Alec nodded.

“Pretty sure,” he said, looking down at Max. “Hey, Max,” he said, and Max looked up at the baby curiously from behind their dad. However, when he spoke, the baby looked up at him and squealed. “Well hey,” Alec said, smiling as he bounced the baby.

Robert looked at the baby curiously. “Is it healthy? Besides hungry? If it was out in the cold last night…” He smiled suddenly, smothering a snort. “I was going to say he’d look like an ice cube, but he is blue,” he said and Alec nodded, holding the baby’s hand so he couldn’t try and chew on his finger anymore.

“He couldn’t have been there too long, because he wasn’t hypothermic,” he clarified. “I feel like I’ve seen a blue warlock before,” he said, and Robert nodded.

“You did, there is a woman here in New York named Catarina Loss. She hasn’t had dealings with us since you were little, but when you were about four she did come to the Institute a few times.” Robert glanced at his wife. “Any chance she might know where this one came from?”

Alec shook his head. “I don’t think that will help.” He frowned, biting his lip. “Whoever left it was probably his mother. They left a note that… didn’t sound like they wanted him anymore.”

“Oh?” Maryse asked and Alec nodded.

“It said ‘who could love it?’,” he said sadly, looking at the poor baby. “Although I’d imagine being tricked or attacked by a demon and having a blue baby would definitely make it hard for her to want to keep him,” he allowed.

“Well its good she left him here, then, right?” Max asked, and Alec looked down at him. He blinked up at both his parents then looked at Alec. “Cause Shadowhunters would know it’s a warlock and wouldn’t freak out so bad. That way something bad won’t happen to the baby.”

Alec smiled and nodded. “Definitely better than leaving it at a Mundane hospital or something,” he agreed.

“What’s gonna happen with him?” Max asked. “I mean, do you know a home for warlocks or something?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Max,” Robert said, and the baby turned around, babbling at Robert. Robert raised an eyebrow and Alec had an idea.

“Max,” he said, and the baby turned and looked at him, cooing absently. Alec chuckled. “Huh, seems like his name is Max, too,” he said and the baby started babbling again, reaching up to pat at Alec’s face. 

“Cool!” Max said, smiling widely. “There’s two of me!” he joked and Alec grinned, shaking his head in amusement.

Maryse, however, glared. “Don’t be silly. We are not calling that thing ‘Max’,” she said, and the baby twisted in Alec’s arms again, looking over at Maryse.

Alec gave her a look. “Mom, his mother must have named him Max if he is responding to it. It isn’t like our Max is the only Max in the world.” He looked around. “Now if you guys can give me a minute, I need to find out why the hell in the _hours_ he’s been here, nobody has gone to buy stuff to feed him. He’s got to be starving.”

Alec left his parents and Max, much to his mother’s clear dismay, to go and find out who was getting the baby some food before the poor thing started to try and eat Alec again.

~

By nightfall, they still hadn’t made any headway in trying to find out where the baby came from and Alec was pretty sure even if they ever did, it wouldn’t help. Isabelle and Jace were amused by the baby. He was a charmer, that was for sure. A quick search on the internet let them estimate his age to be around six months old, since he couldn’t quite sit up by himself yet, but was able to do all the other things the website said. He seemed to be a totally normal baby other than the fact he was blue. He smiled so much and giggled when Isabelle tickled him and even Jace couldn’t stop cooing when he smiled up at Jace and batted at his hair.

Everybody else, however, weren’t so amused. Alec heard so many people calling the baby ‘it’ and they all looked at him like he was a monster, not a little baby. A few of them seemed openly hostile and Alec put orders to have those individuals monitored. His parents were back, so technically he wasn’t supposed to be giving orders, but Alec wasn’t taking chances.

That night, when the baby fell asleep, Alec took him to his room with him, not wanting to leave him in the open infirmary again. 

Just in case. 

~

After a week of looking for the baby’s origins, and a week of Alec, Jace, and Izzy taking turns staying at home with baby Max while the other two handled patrols, Robert and Maryse were due to leave with Max once more, giving up on the search. “We’ll give him to the Silent Brothers,” Maryse said simply.

Jace raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to give a baby to the Silent Brothers?”

Maryse nodded. “It’s happened before. Warlock children taken in by the Silent Brothers and raised so they don’t harm anybody while they’re too young to control their powers.” 

Alec looked at the baby in his arms and the baby smiled up at him, babbling happily, even if he wasn’t really saying anything. “But… how do they care for a baby?” he asked quietly, thinking about Max splashing in the bath with him and squealing delightedly when he swamped Alec, or crying until Alec rocked him and hummed to him. Silent Brothers sure weren’t going to sing to him when he was upset, that was for sure.

Robert gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “It’s the best we can do for him. They will care for him and give him all he needs. I tried contacting Catarina Loss, the woman you remember, but nobody knows where she is. She seems to have disappeared into the Mundane world about a decade ago.” He shook his head. “No other warlock is going to want to work with us to take him in.”

“One of the Brothers will be here later to take it,” Maryse said, clearly deciding that was the end of it.

Alec, however, shook his head, brow furrowed. “No,” he said, looking down at the baby, who was tugging on Alec’s shirt, trying to chew on it. “No, I- I’m going to keep him,” he decided, steeling himself against whatever he knew his mother was about to say.

She just sighed in annoyance. “Alec, this is not the time for jokes.”

“I’m not joking,” he said firmly, voice taking on the authoritative tone he used when he was the acting-head of the institution. “I’m not saying I don’t trust the Silent Brothers, I am sure they would do their best, but Max is staying with me,” he said, holding the baby firmly against his chest. “He’s too little. They don’t have it in their natures to give the emotional support a baby this little needs. A baby can’t grow up in such a cold environment. He needs things they can’t give him. You know for a fact no Silent Brother is going to tickle his belly or sing him to sleep,” he said blunt. He smiled slowly as he looked down at Max and felt absolutely no regret. “I’ll keep him.”

“Alec, you cannot keep that thing!” Maryse said and he glared up at her.

“Mother, his name is Max, and he is a baby. Not a thing. And I’m an adult, so I can keep him if I want to,” he reminded her. “You adopted a son, why can’t I do the same?”

Robert flinched slightly when Maryse glared at him for support. “Alec, Jace was another Shadowhunter’s child, not a baby warlock-“

“It doesn’t matter,” Alec stressed, speaking over him. “The minute you two leave, I’m the head of this Institute again. What I say goes. I would think having the responsibility over an entire Institute means I’m more than capable of being a parent.”

Robert looked at him pleadingly. “Alec, you’re twenty-two-“

“You were twenty when I was born!” Alec spluttered. “Why would you even try to use that as your argument-“

“Yes, I was, but your mother and I were married when you were born. And you didn’t show up as a six month old warlock,” he pointed out.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Being married doesn’t add years onto your life. I’m older than you were and I’ve got more responsibilities than you did at the time already. I think I’m going to go with my own gut instincts that I’m better for this baby than the Silent Brothers,” he said decisively. “I’m keeping Max. And that’s final,” he said, turning on his heels to walk away, bouncing baby Max as he went. He looked down at him and smiled at the happy look on his baby’s little blue face.

~

“Daddy, up!” Alec was glad he had just put his bow away when he heard Max’s two favorite words, because Max had no concept of ‘sharp and dangerous’ when it came to spotting his father. Alec could’ve been covered in mud and Max wouldn’t stop until Alec picked him up. 

Alec walked over to the doorway of the weapons room before Max could pull away from Jace’s hand and waddle across the room to him, near all the weapons, and picked him up, sweeping him over his head with a ‘wooshing’ noise like a rocket, loving how it made Max squeal and laugh. “Hey there! Hello, my sweet little Blueberry,” Alec said, pulling Max into his arms. “Oh man, you’re getting so big, Maxi.”

Max was around what they assumed to be one year old now, and Alec knew that Isabelle was planning a ‘surprise’ party for Max for next week. It had been six months since Alec found him, and Max had grown so fast. It was crazy to Alec that when he found him, Max couldn’t actually talk other than babbling incoherently and acting like he was having a conversation, but very soon after that, when Alec started actually teaching him how to talk, he picked it up quickly. He also went from sitting up to walking in just a few months, which amazed Alec even more. He still fell over sometimes, but he toddled around pretty fast now. They had decided that since Alec found him on the seventeenth of the month when he was six months old, they would just celebrate his birthday on the seventeenth of this month since it had been six months since he found him, and Alec couldn’t even imagine what life would’ve been like if he had let them send Max away.

Isabelle and Jace adored Max, but Alec _loved him_. Max was his son. He didn’t care if he was a warlock baby left on the steps of the Institute, because he was Alec’s son. Though the Clave back in Idris wasn’t exactly thrilled at the acting-head of the New York Institute raising a warlock son, there were no laws against it so there was nothing they could do. Everyone at the Institute learned early on that they could keep their opinions to themselves or they would be answering to Alec, and after six months, for the most part, nobody bothered Alec about Max. Even though he had confidence that nobody would do anything to hurt Max, when there were others visiting the Institute than the ones who lived there, Alec always brought Max into his room rather than the nursery across the hallway, just so he could be positive that nothing happened to his baby because some horrible Downworlder-hating asshole came to visit them from Idris and decided to go after his baby for being a warlock.

Alec would hate to have to kill another Nephilim, but if anybody touched his son, he’d do it in a heartbeat. 

“So,” Alec said, smiling down at Max as he and Jace headed down the corridor. “What did you do while I was gone, huh?” he asked, smiling when Max reached out and grabbed Jace’s hair, giggling and clapping when Jace yanked his head free.

“We tried to learn more words. Like Uncle Jace,” Jace said, playfully glaring at Max. “But somebody seems to combine those sounds and come up with what sounds like ‘ugly’ instead of ‘uncle Jace’.”

Alec smirked. “Or maybe he’s just really smart,” he teased, grinning at Max. “That’s my boy,” he whispered, kissing his face. 

“Daddy, foooooood,” Max complained, and Alec grinned at him. “Food, Daddy!” Max had four favorite words he said most of all: Daddy, Up, Food, and No. He could manage a few more, but those were the ones he said all the time, which said a lot about how Alec was raising his kid. Alec spoiled him just a little bit, one could say. 

Alec hummed comically and pretended to think. “Well, I guess I’m a little hungry, too,” he said, and then looked at Max with narrowed eyes. “I know! I can eat you!” He suddenly leaned in and pretended to ‘eat’ Max, making him squeal and flail.

“DADDY NOOO!” Jace grinned at them as Alec stopped to continue ‘eating’ Max, who squirmed and screamed, giggling the whole time. “Daaaaaddyyyyy!” Max cried, swatting at his hair when he started ‘eating’ his tummy, holding him up in the air. “NO!” he shouted, kicking his feet.

Alec thought he felt a weird tingle in his fingertips, but he continued playing with Max for another few seconds before Jace suddenly shouted in alarm and Alec tugged Max to his chest and turned, only to see Jace running to put out the fire on a burning tapestry next to them. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Jace snatched it off the wall and stamped it out, but Alec just stared in shock. Max seemed scared of Jace’s sudden behavior and he cowered against Alec’s chest, eyes wide as he looked at Jace fighting with the burning tapestry. 

“Jace-“

“Max like… sparkled for a second,” Jace said, looking at Max after he finally dropped the singed fabric. “Sorta purple and gold shimmery stuff, and then ‘poof’, fire,” he said, and Alec looked down at Max, who was hiding his face in Alec’s chest. 

“Shit,” Alec said, curling his hand around Max’s head. He stroked his hair, looking down at him. “Crap, I hoped we had a few years before that started.” He cuddled Max closer, kissing his temple. “It’s okay, Maxi. You’re okay.” He looked over at Jace. “Let’s hope that was a fluke.”

Jace nodded, reaching out to rub Max’s back. “It’s okay, dude. I put out the fire, so you’re fine,” he comforted. As they headed on towards the kitchen to get some food, Alec instinctively held Max more securely against his chest, just on the off chance someone saw that and had a bad reaction.

~

It wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t a fluke at all.

Over the next several weeks, Max had multiple other incidences. All it took was him getting over-excited and something inevitably either caught on fire or just disappeared. At his birthday party, when Alec brought him in and everybody yelled ‘surprise’, his birthday cake just disappeared. He got angry at his favorite teddy bear and threw it and the rug in the hallway beyond them caught on fire. He got scared by someone dropping a rack of weapons in the armory while he was being carried past and he made a statue of the Angel vanish from the hallway.

The last time that drove Alec to finally act was the night that he must have had a nightmare, because Alec woke up to Max _screaming_ so loudly he could hear it echoing down the hall, and by the time he got to Max’s nursery Max’s _crib was on fire_ with him in it. The blankets at the far end of the bed were burning and the flames were spreading and Max was standing at the other end screaming and rattling at the bars to his crib as the flames caught onto the bumper pads around the bed and the mattress itself started to catch fire, coming his way.

Alec had never moved faster in his life than he did as he ran across the room and snatched Max up out of the crib before the fire could get him, too. Alec stumbled away helplessly clutching Max close as he heard footsteps in the hall and stood watching the bed Max had been sleeping in be consumed by fire. Alec was shoved out of the way by Jace and two other people rushing in to rip the curtains off the windows and try to smother the fire while people shouted for water, and he just stood there crying and repeatedly checking Max’s body over and over, looking for any burns or injuries. Isabelle finally dragged him out of the room and he just slid down the wall, sobbing as he held Max and looked at him, so horrified by the thought that seconds later he would have come into the room to find his son burning alive. 

“It’s okay, he’s not hurt, Alec. He’s not hurt,” Isabelle repeatedly whispered, holding him and Max in the circle of her arms. Max was still squalling from the fear of it all, and Alec knew his crying only scared him worse, but his son almost caught on fire, and he couldn’t stop crying because of how close he just came to the worst possible thing that could ever happen happening to him. Isabelle tried to ease Max out of his hold, but Alec made a pained sound and snatched him back, clinging to him helplessly. 

It took a long time for Alec to calm down, and even longer to settle Max down again, but after that, Alec didn’t put Max down for more than a second, while changing into real clothes. Even once Max fell asleep again, Alec held him the entire time he walked around the command center, trying to find the nearest warlock so he could go to them for help with his son’s powers starting when he was far too young to even begin to control them. 

He knew that most everybody else was annoyed at him diverting attention from important missions for a personal problem, but if anybody dared confront him about it right now, he was pretty sure they would lose their tongue, and he’d do it all one-handed since he had a baby in his arms he wasn’t putting down for anything.

~

It was several hours before they realized that, though lately the warlocks in the city had all started to disappear among the Mundanes for, what the Shadowhunters suspected to be, reasons related to vampires getting territorial, there was still one very prominent warlock who didn’t seem to give a damn. The High Warlock of Brooklyn was still throwing wild Downworlder parties all the time, partying with Mundanes in a club he owned, and selling his magical services all through the shadow world. 

Alec knew it might be a bit early to show up at a Warlock’s apartment just after nine in the morning, but he didn’t want to bother negotiating through messages and messengers. He got Max dressed and left not bothering with the stroller. He didn’t feel like lugging a stroller through the subway, so he just carried Max and his baby bag, because he absolutely had to get some answers and hopefully some help before he ever went through that hell again.

When he arrived at what he was told was the home of the most powerful Warlock in the city, he hit the buzzer four times before someone replied. “WHO DARES DISTURB THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN?” a voice boomed over the crackly speaker.

“Alec Lightwood, acting-head of the New York Institute,” he replied.

“Well it’s far too early for business, so if you could just fuck off, that would be great!” came the reply and Alec glowered.

He pressed the button and held it, letting it buzz over and over until finally the door was unlocked and the voice came over the speaker again. “For fucks sake just come up then!”

Alec looked down at Max and tapped his nose. “That’s a bad word, remember? Don’t repeat that.” He opened the door and headed up the stairs. When he got to the top landing, the door to the apartment swung open, and Alec wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting of the High Warlock of Brooklyn (the photos they had of him were blurry), but the grumpy looking man with messy bedhead and baggy pajamas with patterns of kittens on them was not it. 

“It’s too early to be alive, so if you don’t have a good reason to be here and tons of cash to pay me with, you won’t be,” he warned, looking, for all the world, like a grumpy Max when he needed a nap, as he turned and disappeared back into the apartment.

Alec followed hesitantly, but relaxed some when the apartment, though eclectic, didn’t seem to be a dangerous den of magic. The warlock was already flopped across his couch, curled up on his side with bleary eyes. “What can I do for you and how much are you willing to pay me?” he asked in a sleepy voice, barely even opening his eyes as he spoke.

“I will pay you whatever you want if you are able to help me,” Alec said honestly. “I have the full disposal of the treasury and I can get more money from Idris if it takes that much. Weapons, jewels, relics, favors, whatever it takes.”

That seemed to wake the warlock up some, and he sat up slowly, blinking to clear his eyes, and only then did he spot the baby in Alec’s arms. “If you’re here to ask me to take in a warlock child, I won’t do it personally, but I might can get you in touch with people who will-“

“No,” Alec said quickly, unthinkingly clutching Max tighter. 

“Daddy?” Max asked, the first he’d said since they arrived, and when Alec looked down Max was looking across the room and hiding his face in Alec’s shirt, suddenly shy around the stranger.

Alec cleared his throat. “I’m Alec Lightwood, like I said-“

“Lightwood, huh?” The guy stood up, walking closer. “Magnus Bane,” he said, eyeing Alec closely. “So, Mr. Lightwood. Did this warlock baby just call you ‘Daddy’?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

Alec shifted Max. “This is my son, Max. And I’m here because I- I need help. I need any help you can give me. Even if you can’t, I’m sure you know someone who can.” He exhaled, kissing Max’s hair. “Max is only a year old and he’s started having … accidents.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Babies tend to pee anywhere and everywhere,” he said, clearly joking, but Alec was not in the mood for jokes.

“Look, Bane, last night my son nearly burned to death in his own crib because his magic is kicking in before he can even speak full sentences, nonetheless learn to control it,” Alec said fiercely. “It’s been happening for weeks now, but last night he almost died, so this is nothing to laugh about. I’m beyond joking. I will do whatever you want me to do, I will give you whatever you want, I just want help so my child will be okay.”

Rather than joke, Magnus looked at Max with a strangely haunted look in his eyes, his cheeks losing some of their color. He looked back up at Alec and nodded. “Let me go get dressed and when I come back, you can tell me everything, okay?” He gently rested a hand on Alec’s forearm. “I’ll do whatever I can. I promise.”

~

Alec sat with Max, bouncing him on his lap as he looked around the apartment. It was cluttered, and a bit eclectically decorated, but it was oddly cozy, Alec felt. Max had been very quiet ever since they arrived, and Alec was worried about him. Max didn’t go out often. There was no way to cast a glamor on Max themselves, so if he took Max out, he had to bundle him up in enough clothes that nobody could see his skin other than his face, and on his face – loathe as he was to do so – he had to put his sisters makeup on him if they were going somewhere people would see. Today, he had just put a hat on Max so that his face was hidden from anybody who would look at him too closely. 

Because of this, Alec hadn’t realized Max would be shy around strangers and quiet in a strange place. Since it was warm, he had taken off his hat as soon as they walked into the building, but now he carefully took off his little jacket and his mittens and left him sitting on his lap in his cute little overalls that Isabelle had bought him for his birthday. Alec smiled as he watched Max chew on the strap as he looked around the room. Normally he would stop him, but he hadn’t brought any of Max’s toys so anything to keep him calm would be good for now. “It’s going to be okay, my little Blueberry. Daddy’s going to take care of you, no matter what. I won’t stop even if this guy can’t help us, okay?” He stroked one of Max’s curls away from his forehead and just looked at him. “I love you so much, Max. I promise, Daddy’s gonna make it better.”

“Alright!” Alec looked up and Max did as well, and this time when Magnus returned, he was dressed and fully decked out in accessories and makeup and the whole shebang. “So we have a little baby warlock who is, for some reason, in the care of you, Mr. Acting-Head, and he’s having his magic kick in too young,” he said, and Alec nodded.

“I’m sorry for how rude I was earlier,” Alec said, shifting Max in his lap so he was facing Magnus when he sat next to them. “But I’m just losing it today.” He stroked Max’s hair as he looked up at the strange, glittery man beside them. “To start from the beginning, Max was left on the steps of the institute six months ago presumably by his mother, and we tried to contact someone from the warlocks in the city to find out what to do with him, but when we couldn’t find anybody who we thought would help, my mother and father decided to give him to the Silent Brothers to raise, and I had been caring for him from the minute I found him, so I just couldn’t let a baby grow up with them.” He smiled sadly at Max. “Max liked tickles and being sang to and he smiles and laughs so much and even then, I knew that even if they took care of him perfectly, without all of that stuff he would be miserable.”

Magnus looked at him curiously. “Silent Brothers took me in when I was six,” he said and Alec looked at him in surprise. “You’re not wrong,” he said with a shrug. “They were very kind but it’s definitely not like having a family.” He gestured for Alec to continue, so he did.

“Max is my son in every way that matters,” Alec said firmly. “He’s my baby and the Clave just has to deal with it, and all the other Shadowhunters have to deal with it, because I’m his father and I can send them packing back to Idris if they don’t like it.” He stroked Max’s hair. “A few weeks ago, he turned one, or what we decided to be his birthday, and just before that, one night my brother had been babysitting him while I was on patrol, and when he brought him to me as soon as I returned, we were just walking and I was pretending to eat him and he was laughing and smiling and then a tapestry caught on fire,” Alec said softly. “Jace said he glittered or something for a second and then the fire started.” He swallowed hard. “At his birthday party, everybody yelled ‘surprise’ and he made the cake vanish.” Magnus gave an amused little giggle and Alec nodded. “He also made a bust of Raziel vanish, which was sort of funny,” he agreed, but sobered quickly. “But making things catch fire is a bigger problem, and last night-“ Alec choked off and closed his eyes, clutching Max closer to him.

“Alec,” Magnus said surprisingly gently. “Alexander, I need you to explain to me what happened in detail.”

Alec shuddered, rocking with Max in his arms. “I woke up to him screaming and I think he had a nightmare, but either way, he was screaming horribly and I ran across the hall and his crib was on fire.” Alec heard Magnus suck in a breath. “It was only by the grace of the Angel that I was able to run and snatch him out of his bed before he burned with it. He was standing at the end screaming and his blankets burned feet from him and the mattress was catching fire by the time I got him out.” He opened his eyes, not caring about the tears in them, because he wasn’t ashamed. “I need to know if there is anybody or anything that can help make sure that never happens again. I was seconds away from running into a nursery and seeing my _child_ burning.”

Magnus Bane stared at him with the most peculiar expression of wonder, his lips slightly parted as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he looked over Alec’s face. “You aren’t bullshitting me. You really are this baby’s father,” he said softly and Alec blinked.

“What, you doubted I was being serious?” he asked and Magnus held up a hand before he could get angry.

“No, don’t misunderstand,” he said quickly. “It’s not you, I swear, Alexander, it’s just that in my experience, the Nephilim may deign to provide basic care for a Downworlder child, but that is the extent of their care. I’ve never known a Shadowhunter, especially not a Lightwood, to actually, genuinely care about them.” He shook his head. “I figured you were coming to me for help because the baby is setting your Institute on fire, but you genuinely love this baby. He’s actually your child,” he said, looking at Alec with a softer, more genuine smile. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Alec swallowed back the lump in his throat and carded his fingers through Max’s hair. “Warlock Bane, I know how some of us can be, but I promise you, I would rather he burn the entire institute down with everyone else in it than burn himself. I’m that serious. I may have only had him for six months, but Max is my son and there is nothing in this world I care about more than him.”

“Please, call me Magnus,” he said softly. He looked down at Max and tilted his head. “Hi,” he said, spotting Max’s eyes on him. “Hey there- Max?” he asked Alec, who nodded, grinning.

“It’s funny, actually. My baby brother is named Max, and whenever someone said his name, Baby Max would turn and look at them and start babbling like they were talking to him, so I guess his mother must have named him Max.” Alec smiled, looking down at him. “My mom never liked me naming him Max, but if it’s the name he responded to, what else would I have called him?”

Magnus smiled, leaning closer some. “Hello there, Max.” He held out his hand, palm up. “Are you shy, Sweetie? Won’t you talk to me?”

Alec turned Max around, kissing the top of his head. “It’s okay, Blueberry. He’s trying to help us.” He smiled up at Magnus. “Sorry. I can’t take him out much so he isn’t used to strangers. I can only take him out when I can bundle him up, and if we’re going somewhere with a lot of people, I have to put makeup on his face. If he was one of us, I could glamor him, but obviously, I’m not a Warlock so I can’t do anything about his color, and I’m afraid if people see him they’ll freak out and he could get hurt.”

Magnus cooed. “Oh the poor thing! He must be so cooped up at that Institute.” He leaned down, smiling as Max looked at him. “Well you sure are a handsome little man,” he said, and when he snapped his fingers, making blue sparks float above his hand, Max’s eyes widened.

“Daddy!” he said excitedly, reaching out for the sparks that seemed to be made of nothing but light, since he couldn’t touch them. “Daddy, boo!” he said, and Alec grinned.

“Yep, blue. Just like you.” Alec watched Magnus interacting with him and felt like maybe this guy was going to actually help them. 

“You’re too young to try to teach,” Magnus said, looking troubled by that. “Well, Alexander, I think the best I can do for now is try to make some sort of talisman that will block his magic,” he said, sitting up. “I could try warding his room, but that wouldn’t stop him from having outbursts elsewhere, and the Institute couldn’t be warded against magic entirely without it messing with your angel runes everywhere.” He stood up, swirling around as he walked to his bookcase. “I might can make a bracelet or a necklace that could contain his magic, but it’ll be up to you to keep it on him,” he said, fingers dancing along the spines of the books.

Alec looked down at Max and frowned. “That could be hard to do, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Perfect!” Magnus came back with a book. “Now, I have one condition for doing this,” Magnus said as he sat back down with a flourish, taking off one of his beaded bracelets. “Suppressing a warlocks magic isn’t very healthy. It won’t harm him, but it’s still not the best.”

Alec nodded. “What do we do, then?” he asked, and Magnus gestured to himself, meeting Alec’s gaze.

“Bring him to me and let him have a few hours without the bracelet on him. I can counter any magic he does, so it won’t be a danger, and he can explore what his magic does,” he explained. “At least every three weeks, but I’d like it if it was once a week. However, I’ll let you decide one week, two weeks, or three weeks. But definitely no more than three weeks without it.” He smiled at Max. “Wouldn’t want him to have more trouble controlling his magic later when he is able to be trained, now would we?” he asked, making a face at the baby. When Max giggled softly, Magnus seemed to brighten up some. “Hey, look at that. I got him to laugh!” he said excitedly. He held up his bracelet. “I’m gonna go do this really fast, and then Max will be safe from his own powers,” he said and Alec smiled, hugging Max slightly.

“Thank you, thank you so much, Magnus.” He gave a slightly breathless shake of his head. “I just want to protect my son. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”

Magnus gave him a comforting nod and reached out to touch his arm reassuringly. “I may have never had a child, but I can understand better than you would imagine,” he said earnestly before standing and heading out of the room and down the hallway. 

When he returned, bearing the bracelet with little symbols carved into the beads, he loosened it enough to slip around Max’s wrist and then tightened it up as tight as it would go. It held and Magnus whispered something so that it fastened securely so that when he tugged it didn’t come off. “Will it hurt if he bites it? Cause it’s going to,” Alec said, and Magnus shook his head.

“It’s fully baby proof, water proof, anything proof really.” He shook Max’s little hand with two fingers, making Max look at him like he was crazy. Magnus snickered. “You’re so cute, Max Lightwood.”

When Magnus led them to the door, Alec stopped, turning back to him. “What about payment? Just tell me what you want and you’ll have it,” Alec said seriously.

Magnus, however, smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Now _that_ is a very open offer, Alexander Lightwood,” he said with a flirty wink that made Alec flush when he realized how that sounded. “You know.” Magnus grinned, tilting his head. “I think I’m going to let you just owe me and I’ll take my time deciding just what I want from you, Mr. Lightwood,” he purred, making Alec’s cheeks positively burn until Max started poking them curiously.

“I- I- that’s not what- I-“

Magnus raised a finger to rest in front of his lips, hushing his stuttering, and he smiled sweetly up at him. “When I make up my mind, I’ll let you know, Alexander. For now, just remember your promise and, for the love of God, don’t bring him here at ass o’clock in the morning next time,” he said dramatically, making Alec shake his head with a small smile.

“I’ll bring him mid-afternoon when he’s rambunctious and let you unleash his magic then, just so I can laugh when your couch just poofs into thin air,” he said, and Magnus gave him an amused look, grin growing.

He leaned closer to Alec. “The best part about that little side of it, is that the things he’s ‘vanishing’?” He shook his head. “They’re just being teleported somewhere else. Somebody had a surprise birthday cake and a hell of a shocker when a bust of an angel crashed in the middle of their card game, potentially.”

Alec groaned, smacking himself in the face. “Oh God, that’s humiliating.”

Magnus just laughed openly. “Well, good day, Alexander. Max.” He gestured to his house. “I’m going to make some calls and see if anybody I know had a surprise birthday cake to the living room rug,” he teased and Alec just gave him a grumpy look before turning and starting down the stairs.

Just as they neared the bottom, Max lifted himself up over Alec’s shoulder and waved a chubby fingered hand. “Bye bye!” he called, and Alex turned back to see Magnus positively glowing as he waved at Max as they disappeared around the corner. 

Alec kissed Max’s cheek on their way out of the building and hugged him close. “Don’t worry, Max. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing Magnus again very soon.”

Max just clapped his hands and cried out, “Yay!” which made Alec grin before he stopped at the curb to bundle Max back up before any Mundanes spotted his little blue hands and face.

Even though he knew Max couldn’t understand him, Alec couldn’t help the slight blush that crossed his cheeks as he murmured, “Yeah, I think he’s pretty ‘yay’, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This may very well become a series, but currently I don't have any plans for the possible next installment.


End file.
